Foam Grips for Forza/ Silverwing

Good job well done there Mike. Do you normally have KY jelly lying around ?  

Thank you!
I always have a tube of KY in my tool-kit; it's very handy for all sorts of things.
Seriously, the fact it is water-soluble is good. I used it for slipping the Grip-puppies on and many other times when a little lube is necessary.

KY Jelly, that's a new one. The usual stuff to fit any of those useless pipe lagging foam grips is a squirt of aerosol hair spray. Firstly it helps lubricate them on to the handlebar, then as the solvent evaporates it sticks the foam to the handlebar grip. Which is rather important as you don't want the grips slipping when installed, especially on the throttle side.

I know I've mentioned it before but IMHO Grab On Grips are useless. I use to get bruise like marks in the web or fold of skin between my thumb and forefinger when I had them fitted.

Not to mention how the foam insulated and minimised any warmth to my palms from the Honda heated handlebar grips I had on my Silver Wing.

The fact that heated grips only warm the palms of the hand is the reason I didn’t have the overpriced Honda ones fitted to the Forza.

The KY slipped into my mind, having used washing-up liquid before and finding it very messy.

Using hair spray hadn't crossed my mind, possibly because my batchelor bathroom hasn't got any and I have little hair if I did; I can see the logic, though.

I've never felt the need to glue the Grip-puppies on; I will have to wait and see if the KY wasn't a good substitute.

I don't have heated grips so the insulating effect of foam on the bars isn't an issue. I have quite boney hands, now becoming more affected by arthritis, so the softness and larger diameter created by the foam makes riding more comfortable for me.

Thanks for the thoughts; appreciated.

I have used rubbing alcohol for installing grips for many years. Cheap and pour it in the new grips and slide them on. The alcohol evaporates very quickly and the grip has always stayed put. Never needed any adhesive. Just my two cents.

I've found that a small craft knife or a pair of herb scissors are ideal tools for removing  foam grips, once you've realised what a complete waste of money they are.

No; once you've decided what a complete waste of time you think they are.
I will keep my own counsel and not be told by anyone what I should or shouldn't think.

You think whatever you like mate, it was through reading posts on here that I was daft enough to fit foam grips in the first place. There's no getting away from the fact they're pretty useless on the Silver Wing, I remember they worked better on MZ 2-strokes way back in the 80's which is my earliest recollection of using them when it was a just a fad.

Remember when I bought my Forza 300 in 2018 it was an all new model and both Brubaker and myself had to do all the research and figure out buying and fitting essential accessories ourselves.

In contrast, you were posting about buying a Forza 350 on here and a couple of other UK maxi forums (and probably a couple of Facebook maxi groups too) and picking everyone’s brains about mirrors, sat nav positioning etc. long before you took delivery.

You were also quite happy to be given advice from me about what doesn't work on the Forza. You've also asked for and been given similar advice on that other maxi forum occasionally frequented by Brubaker.

Whatever.

May I be forgiven for I had enjoyed the use of and appreciated the benefits of foam grips and now I have just learned that I have been in error and yet I know not why that is so.

MikeO wrote:

No; once you've decided what a complete waste of time you think they are.
I will keep my own counsel and not be told by anyone what I should or shouldn't think.

1Wingman1 wrote:

May I be forgiven for I had enjoyed the use of and appreciated the benefits of foam grips and now I have just learned that I have been in error and yet I know not why that is so.

Right on people. We've both had Grip Puppies on several scooters over the years and we are fans.  

Frustratingly, some are not capable of grasping the concept of "To each their own".

Come then gents, as it's each to their own, explain the advantages of fitting and riding with foam grips, because no on ever has.

You've all read my views about them greatly reducing warmth from heated grips reaching my hands in winter. Not something that old fella in Florida would know about, or even the bloke from Waterloo for that matter as he doesn't ride in Winter.

Or that using foam grips has caused bruise like marks in the web of my both my hands between thumb and forefinger. Which remarkably disappeared when I junked the foam grips.

So an informed reply would be appreciated instead of of indignation, or childishly playing with the red ink.

Meldrew wrote:

Come then gents, as it's each to their own, explain the advantages of fitting and riding with foam grips, because no on ever has.

Not so; just after your post which included the bit about hair-spray, I wrote:

'I don't have heated grips so the insulating effect of foam on the bars isn't an issue. I have quite boney hands, now becoming more affected by arthritis, so the softness and larger diameter created by the foam makes riding more comfortable for me.'

If that's not a concise explanation of the benefits for me in using Grip-puppies I don't know what is and I hope that the three specific points may possibly be helpful to someone else.

I don't think that anywhere have I criticised anyone else for doing what suits them apart from replying to remarks about brand loyalty, my having been slagged off for having the temerity to say that I feel that my scooters and cars run better on non-supermarket petrol.

Yes, I am very happy to ask for and grateful to read advice on this and other forums from riders on matters which affect me and my bikes and I use it if I feel it is of benefit to me. Fortunately, for me, most people are ready and willing to share their knowledge and experience although it may not always be the case; I certainly don't expect everyone should.

I trust that the advice is freely given since it's posted on public forums.

Meldrew wrote:

Come then gents, as it's each to their own, explain the advantages of fitting and riding with foam grips, because no on ever has.

You've all read my views about them greatly reducing warmth from heated grips reaching my hands in winter. Not something that old fella in Florida would know about, or even the bloke from Waterloo for that matter as he doesn't ride in Winter.

Or that using foam grips has caused bruise like marks in the web of my both my hands between thumb and forefinger. Which remarkably disappeared when I junked the foam grips.

So an informed reply would be appreciated instead of of indignation, or childishly playing with the red ink.

I will not criticize anything that you choose to do to or with your property.  Our situations are different and I will attempt to explain my choice to use foam grips.  I don't need heated grips.  My hands are large, the stock grips feel as though they are more fit for a child, the foam seems to absorb some of the vibrations that come through the handlebars, and the increased diameter seems to help ease arthritic pains.

Of course, some of my perceptions may be psychological but if that works for me then I hope that you would wish me good luck with that.

The foam grips on the silverwing were quite comfortable. But they came off as I wanted heated grips which have just been installed.

But given experience with grips they are great warming the palm of your hand but the fingers can stay cold.

Hence I will also install hand guards so the fingers are protected from the elements.

Like anything this will work for me and some others. But won't be for all peeps.

I had heated grips and hand-guards on my first Silverwing and the combination worked well for me, too.
I'm still exercised in my mind about muffs on the Forza as they are a slightly awkward fit. I need a slightly warmer day to fiddle with them; next week should be better.

I'm going into my third winter on the Forza 300 and because I fitted the taller Givi screen and wind deflectors early on, the riding experience is not that much different from riding in the rain. I just layer up more for the colder weather, wear a different riding suit and swap my usual open face helmet for an adventure style helmet with peak for low winter sun.

Hands wise, I don't have heated grips on the Forza, and I've never been a fan of handlebar muffs or hand guards in the past, but I do have a selection of winter gloves and a pair of lobster claw mitts with neoprene over mitts.


I spotted the council gritters out spreading yesterday when I was out on my push bike, and we've had a mixture of rain and light snow overnight. I'm always wary of this alloy corroding soup on the roads until more rain washes it off.

Funny enough I have been researching muffs for my Forza but still not convinced on the looks plus I have never had them on any bike before.

Still need to make my mind up, lots of great reviews though.

Muffs are like marmite. You either like them or you don't.

My view is grips plus guards.

I tried handlebar muffs on my Silver Wing, they were awkward to fit I also fitted hand guards, they prevented turning full lock on the side wings on the Airflow screen. I can't say I found either of them were particularly effective in winter either. Hand guards seem better suited to adventure bikes with small screens than maxi scooters.

Fitting either muffs or hand guards would also cause turning problems with the wind deflectors I have fitted to my Forza.

I still have a pair of easy fit slip over OJ handlebar muffs, they take a bit of getting used to as you work switches and buttons outside on the handlebars with your your hands inside. They aren't ideal fitment on the Forza because unlike the Silver Wing there's no mirror stems to attach them to.

Anyway if it's really cold, I can fire up my Keis heated jacket which warms up all the body, arms and and neck. Plugging that in and even on the lowest setting it keeps me comfortable and warms up my body core which extents down to my hands. I can control the heat from the jacket, or a remote I can fix on the handlebars. The same jacket doubles as a great winter insulating layer inside my Klim unlined jacket.

I also have Keis heated inner gloves that plug neatly into the jacket sleeves, another reason I didn't opt for heated grips. Alternatively I can thread the wires through my jacket sleeves and use the inner gloves on their own inside winter glove or mitts.

Winter riding is only as uncomfortable as you choose to make it.

Yes to heated jacket & glove liners! Best investment I made, swap them between the Silverwing & Himalayan. Paul

Having ummed and ahhed for a little while I've refitted the Givi muffs.

My shopping trip to Tesco this morning, my supermarket of choice, was on the Forza as I hadn't got much to buy - my freezer and larder are well-stocked at the moment.

It's a pleasant ride which takes between 15 and 20 minutes along the coast for part of the way. The temperature registering on the dash was 4℃. Visibility was very good and the sun bright.
I wore my single-layer leather gloves but with silk inners as protection against the raw seams.
My hands stayed warm and the thin gloves make finding the right button, especially indicators, very easy. I've been using my Richa lobster-claw gloves and although they're very good, they are a bit clumsy and catch adjacent switches rather easily. That's not so much of a probelm on the electric moped.

I've also bought and fitted blind-spot mirrors. They are adjustable and seem to work very well; at least, I can now see vehicles immediately behind me.
They were inexpensive and it remains to be seen how long they will last.

I'm on my fourth set of blind spot mirrors. Not that there's been anything wrong with the quality of any of the previous sets, it's been more about finding the right shape and size that works for me and getting the positioning right on the Forza's mirrors.

It's only out on the road after fitting them in what you think is an ideal position that you find out the pro's and con's of whatever blind spot mirrors you've chosen. As they're inexpensive items to buy and to replace, it's no big deal trying others.

So with with set number four I'd say I've finally found a set that suits my needs and I'm happy with. The previous mirror sets I tried were like that curate's egg.

I noted what you said before about finding the 'right' ones and I've also seen comments elsewhere about which part of the mirror to stick them on.
I have chosen the outermost corner although one might think it's the worst place but the stick-ons don't cover enough of the mirror to be a nuisance.

I bought these - time will tell:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B098F495DN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1